Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Report Released On Counseling of Sex Abuse Victims At Bob Jones University

Last week, Bob Jones University released a 300-page Final Report (full text) growing out of an investigation by the non-profit organization GRACE of the University's inadequate counseling of students who disclosed that they were sexually abused as a child, or were sexually abused after they enrolled at Bob Jones University or its Academy. Calling attention to the Report, yesterday's Daily Beast says in part:

At this point, there are so many sex scandals among conservative religious organizations, we’re no longer surprised by any of them. The latest revelation—that for decades, the evangelical Bob Jones University blamed victims of sexual assault and discouraged the prosecution of predators—should be shocking, but probably isn’t.

Yet, the recent report on BJU’s misconduct is different. Unusually for such a document, it makes a theological case against sexual abuse—but in so doing, it points to the deep roots of rape culture that may not be so easily uprooted.